With the widespread use of computer networks, it is often necessary to transfer large quantities of data between computer systems at high speeds. Many networking specifications have been developed to provide high data transfer rates. Typically, such specifications include hardware and software specifications. The hardware specification typically describes the network at the physical level, including information about the physical link and its electrical characteristics, types of connectors that may be used, and electrical parameters for various data rates. The software specification usually describes a network protocol through which nodes in the network may communicate and may include information about frame formats, sequence management, flow control, and topologies. One such networking specification is Ethernet. Ethernet is widely used in Local Area Networks (LANs), but often cannot support data rates capable of meeting the demands of some computer networks, particularly those which require real-time data transfer.
Another networking specification is Fibre Channel. Although the lower layers of the Fibre Channel protocol allow for high data rates, the upper layers of the Fibre Channel protocol require talk back between a receiving node and a sending node for control purposes, such as acknowledging receipt of data, notification of bad packets, and delivery of “busy” messages when a receiver is not ready to receive data. This additional overhead increases network traffic and transfer times. Moreover, Fibre Channel specifies a maximum bit error rate (BER) of 1×10−12. Such a BER may not be suitable for some applications which require orders of magnitude higher reliability.